Following early FY 2018 reporting by the five of the six largest pay TV operators (Comcast, DirecTV, Charter, FiOS, and U-verse), the US pay TV market is on track for the largest drop in penetration in its history. IHS Markit expects pay TV penetration of pay TV homes to decline nearly 4% in 2018, while the next largest loss was in 2017 with slightly more than a 3% drop. AT&T was the largest contributor to the decline in 2018 with its satellite unit losing more than 1.2 million subscribers in the year. Other notable declines in pay TV subscribers included Comcast (-371,000) and Charter (-296,000).

Brazil is the fifth-largest media market in the world, after China, India, the U.S. and Indonesia. Understanding what’s driving video subscription and consumption behaviors is a crucial step in successfully mapping the future of the country’s content and distribution businesses. Connected consumers in Brazil are interested in viewing content in non-traditional ways, which will put added pressure on traditional content and distribution systems when the economy recovers.

IHS Markit has revised its estimates for Internet connected set-top boxes (STBs) in its Connected Devices intelligence service following an in-depth review on an operator-by-operator basis. More than 500m connected pay STBs are now forecast for year-end 2022 globally.

According to the latest consumer surveys from November 2018, when choosing video services in India, three in four connected consumers feel localized content is as important as price - especially the inclusion of local Indian content and the quality of subtitling and dubbing of foreign video content.

More than a third of video subscribers claim ultra-high-definition (UHD) content is an important criterion in their choice of video services, across five markets surveyed. Among households with both pay TV and online video subscriptions, that preference rises to 50 percent.

The latest finding from the IHS Markit “Connected Devices and Media Consumption” service revealed that 35.6 percent of households owned a games console. The survey examined device ownership, use and access of subscription and free video services and decision drivers.

According to the “Connected Devices and Media Consumption” survey from IHS Markit, TV content discovery is at the heart of the battle among TV and video providers to convince consumers that their user experience is both easy to use and truly personalized. Even with smart digital assistants now integrated into TVs, successful personalization will come down to the ability to really know their customers and help them find what they want to watch.

Verizon recently announced the rollout of its 5G wireless home broadband service in the US, 5G Home, with orders opening September 13th, 2018 and launch beginning October 1st in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Sacramento.
The company is touting typical speeds of approximately 300 Mbps, peaking at 1 Gigabit, with no data caps. The service is priced at $50/month for existing Verizon subscribers, and $70/month for non-subscribers, and comes with three months of YouTube TV free. Subscribers also receive their choice of a free Google Chromecast Ultra or Apple TV 4K.

According to IHS Markit’s “Connected Devices and Media Consumption” survey conducted in April 2018, consumers who owned an existing Amazon device were also more likely to purchase further Amazon devices, use Amazon’s Prime Video service and engage with digital assistant Alexa. Amazon’s Fire Stick, specifically, was found to increase brand loyalty and engagement across services.

BT this week outlined the new strategy for its consumer division, which encompasses the BT, EE and Plusnet brands. At the centre of the strategy is the theme of convergence, with several announcements in this area.

Content security firm Verimatrix has acquired Genius Digital’s Mirimon engineering team, technology, and associated IP. The Mirimon stack comprises a set of technologies that allow service providers to harvest data from a range of end-user devices, and from operator-managed consumer premises equipment (CPE) in particular. Verimatrix’s Verspective analytics proposition will integrate the technology.
The acquisition’s value is unknown. However, given that Genius Digital generated turnover of roughly USD 1.5m in 2015, IHS Markit believes that the deal was modest in size.

UK cable operator Virgin Media has unveiled its new advanced TV platform, centred around the V6 set-top box and supported by several multiscreen apps, a new tablet device and an electronic sell-through (EST) service, Virgin Media Store.

Ericsson is collaborating with Google to extend the scale of its MediaFirst TV platform. MediaFirst will be integrated into Google’s Android TV ecosystem, and as such, will allow operators to launch Android-TV-based services with ease.

OTT solutions provider NeuLion is set to acquire Saffron Digital. While the value of the transaction is not known, it is clear that the deal will allow the two technology-and-services companies to fill gaps in their respective solution portfolios.

AT&T is set to acquire OTT solutions and managed-media- services provider Quickplay Media. Although the terms of the deal are unknown, the sale almost certainly surpasses USD 100m in value; private equity group Madison Dearborn Partners purchased a majority stake in Quickplay in Q3 2012 for roughly USD 100m.